Romania

Hungary and Romania - lands of wild beauty, gypsies, heroes and strange tales. What a wealth of music has come from these two countries, as shown in part by two new CD releases. Bela Bartok was Hungary's greatest 20th century composer. A new London CD (443 773) shows this master at the beginning and end of his formidable career. In his youth, he was influenced by Richard Strauss, and by the end of his career he was a master with a distinct voice much admired by other composers.

An outbreak of swine fever at a Romanian farm belonging to Virginia-based Smithfield Foods Inc. has killed 20,000 pigs, officials said Saturday. Swine fever is a viral disease that is fatal to pigs but has no known effect on people. The sickened swine were found at a farm in the southwestern village of Cenei, 12 miles southeast of Timisoara, said Ioan Jeleriu, who heads the Veterinary Heath Authority in Timis county, home to many of Romania's pig farms. The company, also the world's largest pork processor, has 25 pig farms in Timis and others in western Romania, Jeleriu said.

The pork giant's growing business in the European Union may help create a new meatpacking capital. Smithfield Foods will invest more than $800 million to buy companies and expand plants in Romania in the next five years to make that country a centerpiece of the pork giant's European strategy. For the past five years, Smithfield has been building its European business around its Animex subsidiary in Poland. But Smithfield CEO Joseph W. Luter III has been vocal about the potential for Romania to become the pork capital of Europe.

The CIA ran secret prisons in Poland and Romania to hold terror suspects from 2003 to 2005, according to a report Friday from the Council of Europe. The report states that the nations were "knowingly complicit" in the practice of rendition, in which snatched suspects are held in foreign countries for interrogation. Officials in Poland, Romania and the CIA on Friday called the report's conclusions baseless. The report also cites unnamed CIA sources as providing the names of key terror suspects sent to Poland.

It has been three years since communism collapsed in Romania, and today many Romanians live in poverty, intimidation and fear. Last November, I accompanied a private relief mission - organized by the parents of a friend who live in the Netherlands and work for the U.S. Army - to Ludus, a city in north central Romania. The effort targeted children in orphanages and schools and patients in hospitals. The truck we drove across Europe was filled to capacity and contained a variety of items: school supplies, personal hygiene products, food, clothing, hospital supplies and medicine, baby bottles and tools.

Reports coming out of Romania are horrifying. While the government there has sealed its borders and stifled the news media, students and truck drivers who've made it out tell of hundreds of protesters being killed by the country's security force. The city of Timisoara, where much of the unrest took place, was described as a battle zone. Corpses reportedly were lying in the streets, and downtown buildings were damaged. Demonstrators were protesting the harsh policies of President Nicolae Ceausescu, the long-time communist leader.

Two aging watchdogs were retired this week as outmoded relics of a bygone era. The Air Force's supersonic spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird, will become a museum piece after three decades of keeping an eye on communist adversaries. And a seven-ton statue of Lenin, which has graced the plaza in Romania's capital since 1960, was removed after keeping an eye on communist workers. Both were victims of competition in a changing world. Sophisticated spy satellites will cover more ground than a whole flock of Blackbirds could hope to. And a capitalistic economy in Romania will demand more of workers than Lenin ever did. Neither monument went easily.

The CIA ran secret prisons in Poland and Romania to hold terror suspects from 2003 to 2005, according to a report Friday from the Council of Europe. The report states that the nations were "knowingly complicit" in the practice of rendition, in which snatched suspects are held in foreign countries for interrogation. Officials in Poland, Romania and the CIA on Friday called the report's conclusions baseless. The report also cites unnamed CIA sources as providing the names of key terror suspects sent to Poland.

The demise of two dictators on opposite sides of the world offers some interesting contrasts. Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania and Manuel Noriega of Panama were despots who finally pressed opponents to the breaking point. In Romania, Ceausescu's harsh crackdown on protesters, in which thousands may have died, finally was enough to send unarmed people into the streets to face machine guns in order to overthrow him. In the end, the rage of the people was more powerful than the dictator's heavily armed security forces.

Rachel Wallis supplied a lot of tender-loving care to orphans and other disadvantaged children during a recent trip to Romania as member of an Operation Smile medical team. Wallis, who went as a volunteer pre-operation nurse and record keeper, says the TLC she gave the children was the most satisfying part of the journey. "I've had a strong desire to go on one of these medical missions for several years. I'm glad I went, because it was an eye-opener," says Wallis of Newport News.

The pork giant's growing business in the European Union may help create a new meatpacking capital. Smithfield Foods will invest more than $800 million to buy companies and expand plants in Romania in the next five years to make that country a centerpiece of the pork giant's European strategy. For the past five years, Smithfield has been building its European business around its Animex subsidiary in Poland. But Smithfield CEO Joseph W. Luter III has been vocal about the potential for Romania to become the pork capital of Europe.

Smithfield Foods might benefit from weak beef markets and from its prospects in Romania. Smithfield Foods executives said Wednesday at the company's annual meeting that they saw plenty of opportunities to grow their meat business overseas and acquire beef companies at home. Smithfield's acquisition last year of Farmland Foods gave the world's largest hog processor 27 percent of the domestic hog-processing market, up from 20 percent. Smithfield Chief Executive Officer Joseph W. Luter III said antitrust officials might allow the company to reach between 33 percent and 35 percent of the market.

The Americans' depth doesn't help them overcome their sloppiness. The team built for gold came up short a few parts Tuesday night. Instead of being atop the podium, U.S. women gymnasts stood one step down, the medals around their necks silver. Romania, which won the team gold in 2000 and was runner-up to the Americans in the 2003 world championships, proved to be the superior performer. "They were the better team tonight," said U.S. coach Kelli Hill. "We opened the door a little bit, and they walked in."

When in doubt -- and trying to find an Alouette leaves you there -- get a bird for a mascot, which is apparently why Montreal has Blitz. You were expecting, maybe, a hockey puck? Blitz is a giant lark, and he was probably on one when it pecked an official on the head while celebrating Kwame Cavil's 28-yard touchdown reception in a Canadian Football League game against Ottawa on Sunday. Said official was not happy about the bird buss and reacted with a 15-yard penalty, perhaps for being mistaken for a bee. The yardage was stepped off on the kickoff, and Ottawa used the advantage for field position to set up a field goal.

Gloucester Brownie Troop 1328 has chosen a special collection project for the girls to earn their community service patches. The nine girls in the troop are making collection boxes for small items to go to children in Romanian orphanages. Daniela Goldstone, a troop member, spent the early part of her life in one of those orphanages. In May, she, her mother, Christina Goldstone, and her older sister, Marcy, will visit the orphanage where Daniela once lived. "We have nine boxes for nine girls to color and decorate," says troop leader Hope Jones.

Hungary and Romania - lands of wild beauty, gypsies, heroes and strange tales. What a wealth of music has come from these two countries, as shown in part by two new CD releases. Bela Bartok was Hungary's greatest 20th century composer. A new London CD (443 773) shows this master at the beginning and end of his formidable career. In his youth, he was influenced by Richard Strauss, and by the end of his career he was a master with a distinct voice much admired by other composers.

Simply put, this is a great story well told. In 1944, William R. Cubbins was a young lieutenant and the pilot of a B-24 Liberator taking part in the 15th Air Force's raids on the Balkans when he was shot down and captured. He spent months in captivity in Romania until that country pulled out of the war and Cubbins and other Allied airmen were flown to freedom and safety. In many ways Cubbins' story is like those of countless other airmen in World War II. He recounts the details of the bombing missions of his 450th Bombardment Group (called the Cottontails because of their B-24's distinctive white rudders)

Smithfield Foods might benefit from weak beef markets and from its prospects in Romania. Smithfield Foods executives said Wednesday at the company's annual meeting that they saw plenty of opportunities to grow their meat business overseas and acquire beef companies at home. Smithfield's acquisition last year of Farmland Foods gave the world's largest hog processor 27 percent of the domestic hog-processing market, up from 20 percent. Smithfield Chief Executive Officer Joseph W. Luter III said antitrust officials might allow the company to reach between 33 percent and 35 percent of the market.

Rachel Wallis supplied a lot of tender-loving care to orphans and other disadvantaged children during a recent trip to Romania as member of an Operation Smile medical team. Wallis, who went as a volunteer pre-operation nurse and record keeper, says the TLC she gave the children was the most satisfying part of the journey. "I've had a strong desire to go on one of these medical missions for several years. I'm glad I went, because it was an eye-opener," says Wallis of Newport News.

She acts like a frightened animal as she stands in front of the video camera, turning her shaved head around to cautiously take in all that goes on about her. A woman leans in from off-camera to straighten the little Romanian girl's stained red sweater, while the girl's name is shown in white letters on the screen. Videotapes of this child and others like her have been sent back to the United States, where American families look at the tape and choose a child to live with them for a year.